


haircut

by rosebud16



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Day of Colossus, F/M, M/M, Soulmates, Vacation, Waterbender!Reader, gender neutral reader, lots of backstory but it ties itself up dw, reader and readers friends are clueless and i LOVE IT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26724973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosebud16/pseuds/rosebud16
Summary: Your trip to Republic City doesn't turn out as expected, and you and your roommates find yourselves in the middle of Kuvira's attack. Three short vignettes of backstory, all wrapped up with an impromptu haircut and a sweet introduction.
Relationships: Bolin (Avatar)/Reader
Kudos: 33





	haircut

**Author's Note:**

> oh my lord :) this was so challenging and fun to write! the only ideas i seem to ever have are also the ones i don't know how to approach, so writing this was a doozy. i hope that yall enjoy this one as much as i do, its less bolin-centric and takes a bit of patience, but i think it's very sweet! thank you for all your support on my previous works as well, it means a whole lot to me <3 love u all stay safe!

On your 18th birthday, you got your mark. You woke up eager, jumping out of bed and stripping your sleeping clothes off to see where it had appeared. At first, you panicked— it was nowhere to be seen, rubbing your hands along the backs of your legs and arms, hoping the friction would urge it to surface. After what had felt like hours of checking in every corner of your body in the mirror, you gave up and wrapped yourself in a blanket, walking out of your bedroom in search of your mother.

With tears in your eyes, you hugged your mom as she wished you a happy birthday, taking a deep breath and engulfing yourself in her calming scent. Upon seeing you crying, her face washed over with concern as she asked you if you’d found your mark yet. You talked through your doubts, suggesting that you might not even have a soulmate, and that no mark was ever supposed to appear, and that it just wasn’t meant to be.

“Y/n, don’t be foolish,” she reached for your hand and gave it a squeeze, “let’s check together.”

You pulled the blanket up and turned your ankles, checking on the soles of your feet, your toes. You huffed, pulling it up around your thighs and spinning unenthusiastically for her to check the backs of them. You dropped the blanket down, reaching up to slip it down off your arms.

You exposed your shoulders, your mother lifting your arms to check your armpits, in between your fingers, along your collarbone. She spun you around with her hands, checking the skin on your back. She pushed the hair on your neck forward and placed a finger on the nape of your neck, chuckling.

“Looks like we’re going to have to plan a trip to the earth kingdom sometime soon.”

You hadn’t left the Northern Water Tribe for your entire life until you turned 20. Living with a few childhood friends in a shared apartment, you all dreamed of one day traveling to Republic City and living it up for a couple days, Republic style. The spirits had just arrived in the City, and you all wanted to see them before the government did something to rid them, having heard great stories of large vines and friendly spirits speckled along the bustling streets.

You heard good reviews about Varrick Industries’ blimp flights from the Northern Water Tribe to Republic City, but the technology was just a bit too new (and therefore expensive), and a local fisherman offered to give you all a ride on his boat in exchange for a bit of work during the trip. You had known the fisherman to be a little unhinged, but you didn’t complain.

The four of you planned on staying at an inn not too far from the pro-bending arena, which was a huge deal, since all of you listened to pro-bending matches on the radio together religiously. Every Friday night was an event, where you helped your roommate, Tonauk, cook a large meal for everyone as a celebration of the week’s end. As all of you sat down for dinner, you would discuss your theories for the night’s matches, turning the radio on after you all had finished.

You all had to go out and buy new clothes since your wardrobes were too warm for the weather in the city, modifying a couple items of clothing you never wear, chopping off the sleeves on a lightweight tunic. You figured you could do a bit of shopping while on your vacation, but hey, things were probably cheaper here, anyway. You packed up your bags and wished to have a safe journey, and a nice, relaxing week in Republic City. It felt so strange leaving the one place you’ve been your entire life, but it felt like it was time, and you were ready.

To put it shortly, the trip to Republic City was an absolute disaster. The boat ride over was actually pretty bearable, though— the fisherman had the four of you working the sails most of the time, which was second nature to you, the child of a fisherman. Upon your arrival, you discovered that an angry spirit occupied the room you had reserved at the inn, forcing the four of you to opt for a cramped two-bed on the first floor. It wasn’t the best of circumstances, but you all were determined to see it through and still have a good time.

Where things really went south was when Kuvira arrived. It had been about three days into your vacation, and your roommate Niko insisted on taking a ferry trip to Air Temple Island. It was a gorgeous day and the sun felt so good on your skin, the breeze caressing your face as it flowed past you.

The four of you were absolutely clueless to what was happening in the city— the looks of concern on the Air Acolytes’ faces as you leisurely strolled through on your tour of the island, the crowds of people boarding boats in droves when you arrived back at the ferry. As you walked towards the dock, an Acolyte approached your group and told you to leave immediately, and that the city was being evacuated.

The ferry ride back to the port was probably the most stressed you’d ever been in your entire life. You and Tonauk were waterbenders, but Niko and Kala weren’t, and if they got caught up in some twisted Kuvira shit, you would never forgive yourself if you weren’t able to save them. _How should we have known Kuvira was here? How were we supposed to know that “_ Oh, Kuvira’s coming, so let’s all silently up and leave” _?_ It didn’t make sense, and now you were really in danger, and you felt the horrible weight of putting your friends in this situation. It was your idea to go to Republic City, but you hadn’t thought about the possibility of _this_ happening.

That was when you had heard Niko curse something under his breath next to you, and you looked out across the water. Kuvira was here, alright— and she brought a giant mecha suit that was aiming its arm in front of itself. You covered your ears as the blast that erupted from it echoed across the water. _Holy shit._

You were absolutely sure that you were going to die. Since the buses and trams across the city had closed down, the four of you were on foot, making your way to the train station. You all crouched and sheltered yourselves as you heard another blast close by. When the coast was clear, you all turned a corner, happening upon a stressed, scrambled group of airbenders _._ You hurried to offer a hand to them as they picked themselves off the ground.It took a while to realize what was all happening in front of you. You saw that you were about 200 feet from the giant mecha suit, which you had assumed caused the airbenders to crash. _Holy shit, is that the avatar?_

“Excuse me? You’re not supposed to be here.” A stern voice chided from behind you.

“Yeah, what’re some civilians doing around here anyway?” You turned to look at who was speaking: two men, both eyeing your group up as you helped an airbender to their feet.

“We were making our way to the train station. We didn’t know there was an evacuation.” Tonauk defended, stepping forward.

“You didn’t know?” The green eyed one looked at Tonauk in disbelief. “We’ve been evacuating for _days—_ There was a city-wide radio broadcast… that played aloud to the _entire_ city.”

You recalled that you were on a day trip out to a park outside the city yesterday and probably completely missed the broadcast. “Ugh!” you exclaimed, “That’s why our ferry tickets were so cheap.”

“People will really do anything for money nowadays, huh?” Niko muttered.

“You guys went on a ferry?” the taller of the two questioned, disappointment spread across his face.

“Oh, my god,” the green-eyed one chuckled. “They went to Air Temple Island and didn’t know there was a city-wide evacuation? Like, we’re straight up under attack right now.” He gestured to the mecha suit, which had just blasted a building a block away. Kala scoffed.

“Guys?” _Oh my god, it really_ was _the Avatar!_ “We’d love to get to know you, but we uh, have something that we really have to deal with right now,” she gave a forced smile and gestured for the two boys to join her. They turned and ran to the rest of their group, circling up to strategize.

Before you could mutter something about how some people in this city are just so _impolite,_ the building next to you started crumbling. Tonauk attempted to shelter the four of you by drawing water up from the sewer cap nearest you, but there wasn’t enough to provide good cover. That was when you were knocked out momentarily by a few bricks that had fallen, coming to seconds later and realizing that you were stuck underneath a pile of rubble. Your hair, grown long for many years despite your mother’s wishes, was now trapped underneath some kind of machinery that had fallen from the building. Your face was stuck against the rubble beneath you. Your arms were free enough to pull the rest of your body from the bricks that held it down, but your head would not budge, your cheek pressed against some kind of electrical unit.

“Hold still!” the green-eyed boy’s voice echoed in your ears as he attempted at moving the weight on top of your hair. “Dammit, I can’t move it! Why do they make these things out of platinum?” he groaned.

“Just cut it off!” you managed to squeak out.

“If you say so,” he began, reaching in his pocket to pull out a foldable knife. You craned your neck to pull your hair taut. With one short _swoosh,_ your head was free, but the man above you didn’t move. “I, uh…” he trailed off.

“What is it?” you picked yourself up, scanning the scene around you, relieved to see that your friends had survived.

A blush spread across his face as he reached an arm up to rest behind his head. _Or, was he...?_ You reached up to press the earth emblem on the back of your neck, now exposed from your new haircut. “Oh my god, turn around.” you ordered him, as he turned, folding his popped collar down. You gasped to yourself as you saw that the water emblem was printed across the nape of his neck. “I, uh…” you echoed him.

“Really need to… get going?” he finished for you, “But I’m really confused, so like, if we both make it out of this alive, my friend Varrick is having a wedding, and you should come.” he turned around and his eyes sparkled, reaching out his hand to give yours a shake. “I’m Bolin. And you are?”

“Y/n,” you exhaled, giving his hand a squeeze. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You as well,” he glanced over at his group. “Okay, gotta go. Not sure where the wedding is, but come to Air Temple Island if all else fails. See you then!” Bolin gave you a reassuring smile before running off.

You looked behind you, at your friends, who were now staring at you dumbfounded. “Nice haircut.” Kala gave you a thumbs up as you walked back towards them. Bolin and the others ran off down the street, towards the mecha suit.

“So… he’s like, your…?” Niko suggested.

“I… don’t know,” you stuttered, straightening out your tunic. “but I do know that we have a wedding to go to, so let’s get the hell out of here.”


End file.
